First-time buyers stepping on to the property ladder continued in their droves last month, helped by seeing £3,000 knocked off the average deposit in the past year.

First-time buyer sales jumped to 30,000 in July, the highest level since August 2007, according to research from LSL Property Services. They were given a helping hand by the average deposit falling by 10 per cent in a year from £29,609 to £26,642.

David Newnes, of LSL, said: “Any stalling of the mortgage market caused by the introduction of the Mortgage Market Review [MMR] has mostly worked its way through the system. Lending